Pigeons trade efficiency for stability in response to level of challenge during confined flight
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Pigeons trade efficiency for stability in response to level of challenge during confined flight
| Title: | Pigeons trade efficiency for stability in response to level of challenge during confined flight |
| Author: |
Williams, C. David; Biewener, Andrew Austin
Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors. |
| Citation: | Williams, C. David, and Andrew A. Biewener. 2015. “Pigeons Trade Efficiency for Stability in Response to Level of Challenge During Confined Flight.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (March 2): 201407298. doi:10.1073/pnas.1407298112. |
| Full Text & Related Files: |
Williams&Biewener_PNAS_accepted version.pdf (228.8Kb; PDF) 
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| Abstract: | Individuals traversing challenging obstacles are faced with a decision: they can adopt traversal strategies that minimally disrupt their normal locomotion patterns or they can adopt strategies that substantially alter their gait, conferring new advantages and disadvantages. We flew pigeons (Columba livia) through an array of vertical obstacles in a flight arena, presenting them with this choice. The pigeons selected either a strategy involving only a slight pause in the normal wingbeat cycle, or a wings folded posture granting reduced efficiency but greater stability should a misjudgment lead to collision. The more stable but less efficient flight strategy was not employed to traverse easy obstacles with wide gaps for passage, but came to dominate the postures used as obstacle challenge increased with narrower gaps and there was a greater chance of a collision. These results indicate that birds weigh potential obstacle negotiation strategies and estimate task difficulty during locomotor pattern selection. |
| Published Version: | doi:10.1073/pnas.1407298112 |
| Terms of Use: | This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#OAP |
| Citable link to this page: | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:14117005 |
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